Cleared Swaps Best Practices
Overview
This document applies to all releases of Eagle software V12.1.2 and above. Version-dependent functionality is noted with the initial release(s) it became available.
Eagle supports end-to-end processing of cleared Credit Default (CDS), Credit Default Index (CDX) and Interest Rate (IRS) Swaps. This document covers the full lifecycle including Accounting, Data Management (DM), and Performance. Tags are shown in parentheses after field names the first time each field is mentioned. Please refer to our dedicated best practices for CDS, CDX, and IRS if you need documentation on bilateral swaps.
Cleared swaps function much like Future Contracts, with daily variation margin (VM, inclusive of price fluctuations and swap fee accruals) exchanged through a central clearinghouse (CCP). These transactions are triggered automatically via Accounting’s core global processes, with manual intervention required only to post Price Alignment Interest (PAI) when applicable.
Cleared swaps, especially CDX, often trade with upfront fees that are determined based on the current economic position of the security. The amount is almost fully offset by the reset to par at the end of each day. CCPs and brokers (FCMs) track these upfront fees and resets to par, but from a buy-side perspective the only cash movement resulting from a trade is VM based on the change from trade price to close price plus or minus commissions and clearing fees.
In addition to daily VM processing, Cleared Swaps can also be configured to record the upfront fees as cost (V17 R2.3). This allows for the same type of amortization processing that is available for bilateral swaps.
Example reference data screens, trade screens, and reports are attached:
Entity Setup
Before any trades can be booked, the target entity must be set up appropriately. Refer to Swaps Entity Setup Processing Notes for details.
Primary Amortization/Accretion Rule (3197) must be defined for all entities trading Cleared Swaps, regardless of whether they are traded with or without cost
Some clients have a requirement to process the same Cleared Swap with VM in certain funds and without VM in others. This can be accomplished by using a Variation Margin Override Rule. Refer to Override a Security's Variation Margin Setting for an Entity for details.
Cleared Swaps Amortization (V17 R2.3)
If an entity will be trading Cleared Swaps with cost that can be amortized, three additional fields are required.
Bifurcation Method (5825) =
All
This tells Accounting to bifurcate the gain/loss between capital and currency gain/loss ledger accounts, regardless of the security type
Derivatives Cost Rule (7104): select the rule that was set up to process Cleared Swaps amortization
If a rule does not yet exist, start by adding one using Create Accounting Rules
Set Rule Type (1882) =
Derivative Cost Rule
Open Create Derivative Cost Rule
Select the Processing Security Type (3931) to be amortized
Only one Processing Security Type is allowed per record, but additional rows can be added by clicking Add Row in the navigation ribbon
Set Rule Begin Date (71) to any date that is less than or equal to initial open trade date of the position(s) to be amortized
End Date (73) should only be populated if there is a requirement to stop Cleared Swap amortization on a particular; otherwise, leave it blank and the rule will remain valid indefinitely
Contra Fx Gain/Loss Indicator defines if currency gain/loss is posted
Daily
, or onlyAt Disposition
Margin Price Source (18041): this price source is used for VM processing and can be different than the price sources used for URGL
If an entity has multiple bases, this must be the same across all bases; when adding a secondary basis it will default to the same value as the primary basis
Reference Data
Storage & Configuration
Eagle distinguishes between bilateral and cleared swaps using a single field on the security master file (SMF): Cleared Security (5027). Other details should be entered identically to a bilateral contract. Refer to Credit Default Swaps (CDS) Best Practices, Credit Default Index Swaps (CDX) Best Practices, and Interest Rate Swaps (IRS) Best Practices for more information on general reference data setup.
Market Data
Cleared swap prices are available from the CCP and should be entered directly into Eagle. The Price Multiplier (18) will always be 0.01
for CDXs, but may have to be adjusted for CDSs and IRSs depending on how the prices are received. They may already be multiplied by 0.01, in which case a Price Multiplier of 1.00
would be used in Eagle.
Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)
Eagle has functionality to tag issuers, counterparties, brokers, exchanges, and depositories with their LEIs. Executing brokers, clearinghouses, DCMs, and SEFs have all been given LEIs to help track the identities of all parties to cleared swap transactions. The process for adding LEI information is slightly different for counterparties (maintained as issuers) than brokers and exchanges (maintained as code values). Refer to Setting Up Legal Entities Best Practices for more information.
Security Data
Cleared swaps can be set up and maintained using Issue Viewer or Reference Data Center (RDC). The list below contains fields that are specific to cleared swaps. There are no security-level requirements to process amortization (V17 R2.3).
Unique Product Identifier (1955) & Unique Swap Identifier (1958): available to support Dodd-Frank mandate
Primary Exchange (85): populate with the clearinghouse (CME, ICE, etc.), which can be linked to its LEI
Cleared Security =
Yes
This will automatically trigger the Variation Margin field to be shown and set to
Yes
, allowing for the calculation of daily VM
Trade Processing
Open
Trades are entered using the Book Trade module once the entity and reference data have been configured. Enter the appropriate entity, security identifier, and trade/settle dates and click Submit to query for the security. For a CDS or IRS, right-click it and select Open > Open Swap Contract. For a CDX, right-click it and select Open > Long Index (Sell Protection) or Short Index (Buy Protection). The list below contains fields that are specific to booking cleared swap trades.
All Cleared Swaps
Opening a cleared swap position does not produce any cash movement. On trade date, VM will be calculated based on the change from trade price to end-of-day price plus any commissions and fees.
Traded Interest/Effective Date (2857): date accruals begin in Accounting, and the date to which traded interest is calculated; typically Trade Date or T+1
Cleared swaps sometimes have Trade Date = Settlement Date, where Traded Interest/Effective Date needs to be T+1 to calculate correct traded interest and accruals
Select Values to be Calculated by STAR (7000): must be populated, but does not have an accounting impact for Cleared swaps because swap fee accruals settle each day as part of the VM movement
Some trade tickets include traded interest, even though it is not exchanged in cash, so selecting
Traded Interest
can be used to validate it
Comm Amt L (47): enter transaction commission
Other Fee Local (3752): enter clearing fee
The prior two fields will be factored into the VM calculated on trade date
The entity-level Futures & Options with Margin Transaction Fees (3889) field defines whether the sum of these fields hits Transaction Fees (5004000800) or is netted into Unrealized Variation Margin (3003000500) on the ledger
Broker (88): populate with the executing broker of the Cleared swap transaction
Clearing Broker: populated with the clearinghouse (CME, ICE, etc.) through which VM will be exchanged
This will allow the VM process to be run for individual clearinghouses, if needed
Clearing Brokers are maintained as Code Values; to add a new one, use Add Code Value and enter a Code Category Name of
Clearing Broker
Counterparty information can be stored in the Counterparty (1144) field
The dynamic list returns all Issuers that have their Counterparty flags set to Yes
When the transaction initiates from a Designated Contract Market (DCM) or Swap Execution Facility (SEF), the DCM or SEF should be entered in the counterparty fields
Cleared CDS
Sell Protection or Buy Protection: defined at the security level by selecting Sell or Buy, with the contract always held as a long position in Eagle
Cleared CDS trades generally settle T+1
Notional Principal Value (40): notional value of the trade
Price (45): par-zero price
Cleared CDX
Sell Protection or Buy Protection: defined by going long or short
Long Index (Sell Protection): creates a long position; this indicates that credit events are not expected to occur, so protection is sold to collect the quarterly premium payments
Short Index (Buy Protection): creates a short position; this indicates that credit events are expected to occur, so protection is bought to collect the payments from these credit events
Cleared CDX trades generally settle T+1
Original Face (41): full notional value of the trade, without the effect of any credit events and factors
Factor (91): current factor on the index, between 0.0001 and 1.00
Notional Principal Value (40): calculated automatically as Original Face * Factor
Price (45): par-based price
Cleared IRS
Long/Short Indicator (2284)
Long: the contract and receive legs will be held as long positions, with the pay leg held short; use this for "buy receiver" swaps
Short: the contract and receive legs will be held as short positions, with the pay leg held long; use this for "sell receiver" swaps
Cleared IRS trades generally settle T+1
Notional Principal Value (40): notional value of the trade
Price (45): par-zero price
Initial Margin
Eagle does not calculate initial margin due to the large variance in requirements and calculation formulae between different brokers. Initial margin is typically calculated by another system and maintained in Eagle using Miscellaneous Income or Expense transactions against specific entities and securities.
Close
The Book Trade module should also be used to process both full and partial terminations. Enter the same identifiers as the open to query for the security. For a CDS or IRS, right-click it and select Close > Close Swap Contract. For a CDX, right-click it and select Close > Long Index (Sell Protection) or Short Index (Buy Protection) depending on whether the existing position was selling or buying protection.
All Cleared Swaps
Like the open, closing a cleared swap position does produce any cash movement. Instead, the final swap fee accruals and VM will be calculated as part of the earnings process. VM is calculated as the difference between the prior end-of-day price and the close trade price plus any commissions and fees. These final accruals and VM create cash records that will be settled on settlement date (T+1).
Cleared CDS
All CDSs positions are held long, which will be defaulted on the close.
Cleared CDX
The type of close must correspond to how the position was opened (buy protection or sell protection).
If the position is long (sell protection), select Close > Long Index (Sell Protection)
If the position is short (buy protection), select Close > Short Index (Buy Protection)
Cleared IRS
Long/Short Indicator: long or short; must match the value from the open.
Conversion
The CONVERSION
event is not supported for Cleared Swaps. Instead, follow the steps below.
Enter a regular open for the original trade and settlement dates
Load a price for the business day prior to conversion date
Run VM calculation and approval to true up margin
Adjust the fund's cash as needed
Trigger VM on conversion date to calculate the expected day-over-day amount
Cancel & Rebook
Faulty CDS and CDX transactions can be cancelled and rebooked using the Cancel & Rebook Trade module; however, it will not replay the full lifecycle. The subsequent daily cash settlement, swap fee accruals, VM calculation, and VM approval events must be entered manually. Alternatively, these trades can be cancelled using Cancel Trade, with the transactions rebooked using the Book Trade module.
Faulty IRS transactions are not eligible for Cancel & Rebook Trade; they must be cancelled using Batch Cancel Trades and rebooked using Book Trade.
Accounting
Once a Cleared Swap trade is booked, it will be picked up in Eagle’s global workflow. Daily accruals and VM are calculated as part of the earnings process, the associated VM payable or receivable is generated through the approval process, Accounting valuation is calculated when posting unrealized gain/loss, Data Management valuation is calculated in the STAR to PACE push, and VM is closed out to cash during cash settlement.
These events will be scheduled to run automatically in production, but can be triggered manually via Accounting Center > Processing and Exceptions > Global Processes.
Swap Fee Accruals: Earnings > Run Income Accruals
VM Calculation: Earnings > Run Variation Margin
VM Approval: Earnings > Approve Variation Margin
Cash Settlement: Cash > Run Contract Cash
Run Multiple Settlements can also be used
Accounting Valuation: Unrealized Gain Loss Entries > Post Daily Fund Unrealized Gain Loss-Position
Data Management Valuation: STAR to Eagle PACE Direct Processing > Transfer Data - Batch
Cash Settlement
This can be done at the end of prior day or beginning of current day.
Settles the payable and/or receivable cash records that were created for the prior day’s margin amount +/- swap fee accruals
Swap Fee Accruals
Swap fee accruals are calculated based on the interest rate supplied on the SMF, and are exchanged daily as part of the VM process
Because they are exchanged daily, only delta accruals are calculated; the period-to-date accrual will always be zero
When running accruals manually it is recommended to select
One Entity/One Security
orOne Entity/All Securities
Price Alignment Interest (PAI)
In addition to daily swap accrual fees, PAI will need to be posted for certain types of swaps. To post PAI on a daily basis, it will need to be calculated offline and manually assigned to the security using Post Miscellaneous Income or Expense, Asset Specific. If appropriate Rec/Pay Events have not been setup, new ones can be created via Define a Rec/Pay Event. Separate events will need to be created for PAI payable and PAI receivable.
Rec/Pay Events define the category (
Income
,Fees
&Expenses
, etc.) and specific ledger accounts where Miscellaneous Income or Expense transactions will be postedThe interest rates for PAI are based on the Fed Funds Effective Rate (annualized) for USD balances and EONIA (Euro Overnight Index Average) for EUR balances; other currencies will need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis
VM Calculation
VM is calculated at the contract level based on the day-over-day price change of the swap
VM Approval
Upon approval, separate payable and/or receivable cash records will be created for the margin amount and swap fee accrual(s)
Margin and swap fee accruals are moved into
Market Value Income
PAI adjustments will also appear in
Market Value Income
By default, VM will settle the following business day if a Business Calendar is selected on the entity. If no calendar is selected, VM settlement date will be equal to VM approval date
If you do not want to impact cash on the current day, you can delay cash settlement when approving margin. On the approval event, setting Advance Variation Margin Settlement Date to Yes
(or leaving it NULL
) will result in the cash being settled on margin date + 1 business day. Selecting No
will cause the cash to settle on margin date when Contract Cash is run.
When margin settlement is delayed by a day, running Contract Cash on T+1 settles the cash records that were created on T
If users elect to delay cash settlement of the margin by one day, the same approach should be followed for the related PAI Miscellaneous Expense/Income posting
This is the approach that Eagle has seen in analyzing many live cleared swap examples
Valuation
Cleared Swaps will always have a market value of zero in Eagle due to the daily settlement of VM. Once VM has been approved, the VM amount (equal to the day’s URGL) will appear in Market Value Income.
The Accounting formula for calculating VM is:
Variation Margin = Current Day Notional Market Value - Notional Cost
Notional Market Value = Notional Value * Price * Price Multiplier * Quantity Scale
Accounting will correctly interpret par-based prices for CDXs and par-zero prices for CDSs and IRSs
Current Day Notional Market Value becomes the Notional Cost used for the next day’s VM calculation
For foreign Cleared Swaps, base VM delta values are calculated by comparing the day-over-day change in life-to-date (LTD) values
VM LTD local is converted to base each day using the prevailing FX rate
Each day's VM delta base = current day VM LTD base - prior day VM LT base
Converting each day's VM delta local to base produces different results
Cleared Swaps Amortization (V17 R2.3)
When a Cleared Swap is booked to an entity with a Derivative Cost Rule that matches the Processing Security Type of the Cleared Swap, cost will be recorded with an offsetting entry to the CONTRA COST ACCOUNT (1007000520). Cost is amortized during the earnings process just like a fixed income security, while the CONTRA COST ACCOUNT is adjusted based on daily VM. URGL is calculated from the net of each day's amortization (or accretion) and VM. The attached spreadsheet includes example journal entries.
Credit Events
Cleared CDX credit events are processed the same way as bilateral CDX. The only difference is that cash is generated as part of part of the VM process, similar to an open or close, rather than immediately when the credit event is processed. Refer to CDX Credit Event Processing Notes for more information on credit event processing.
Credit Event Cancel & Rebook
If a credit event corporate action is set up incorrectly it must be canceled or deleted before rolling back and replaying any activity. If the corporate action is not in released status it can be deleted using Delete Corporate Action Announcement. If it is in released status a Cancel Corporate Action Announcement must be set up to prevent the original from being processed.
Once the faulty corporate action has been canceled or deleted the activity can be rolled back and replayed by following these steps. Please pay close attention to the order. All global processes should be run as One Entity/One Security
. CEED = Credit Event Effective Date.
Run accruals for the day prior to CEED (make sure that Allow Earnings Rollback is set to Yes)
Run VM for the day prior to CEED
Run S2P for the day prior to CEED
Run VM approval for the day prior to CEED for clients who do same-day margin approval, or CEED for clients who do next-day margin approval
Run contract cash for CEED
Create new credit event corporate action
Trigger credit event through Global Process Center
Run accruals for CEED
Run VM for CEED
Run rest of regular workflow through current day
Reporting
STAR to PACE (S2P)
Almost all reports in Eagle Accounting leverage data from Data Management, which is populated by the S2P process. This will be scheduled as part of the daily workflow, but can also be triggered manually as described in the Accounting section.
The S2P process creates a single row for each CDS and CDX, and three rows for each IRS in the POSITION, POSITION_DETAIL, TRADE, and CASH_ACTIVITY tables. For IRSs, the MARKET_VALUE_INCOME column for each row captures a portion of the total market value.
Contract Position: market value due to price fluctuations
Pay Leg Position: market value due to period-to-date accruals payable
Receive Leg Position: market value due to period-to-date accruals receivable
Variation Margin
Upon approval of VM in Eagle Accounting, any unrealized gain or loss is reflected in Market Value Income of the Cleared Swap, and Market Value will always remain zero. Market Value Income is closed out to cash after the payables and/or receivables created by the approval process are settled. The VM process is illustrated below, and the attached spreadsheet walks through an example using a Future.
Step 1: Calculation | Step 2: Approval | Step 3: Settlement |
---|---|---|
Payable/Receivable = 0 | Payable/Receivable = VM + Swap Fee Accrual | Payable/Receivable = 0 |
Market Value Income (CDX) = 0 Contract Market Value Income (IRS) = 0 | Market Value Income (CDX) = VM + Swap Fee Accrual Contract Market Value Income (IRS) = VM | Market Value Income (CDX) = 0 Contract Market Value Income (IRS) = 0 |
Leg Market Value Income = 0 | Leg Market Value Income (IRS) = Swap Fee Accrual | Leg Market Value Income = 0 |
Cash Position = No Impact | Cash Position = No Impact | Cash Position = VM + Swap Fee Accrual |
Accounting Reports
Eagle has a core set of Accounting reports that can be used to review cleared swap and other security information. These are designed to support the daily operational workflow for business users, allowing Grid Reports to be easily exported to Excel and customized to provide additional details as needed. Advanced Reports are intended to be client-facing and do not provide the same level of customization.
IRSs are displayed as three separate rows. The contract and legs are intended to be displayed together, but may be broken into different areas depending on the report’s groupings (long/short, for example).
Refer to Derivatives Reporting Best Practices for additional guidance.
Cleared Swaps Amortization (V17 R2.3)
Original Cost and Amortized Cost are both maintained on the position.
Contra currency gain/loss is shown on the Realized Gain Loss Report
Contra balances and realized currency gain/loss are shown on the Ledger Subledger Reconciliation Report
Contra balances will be available in the
Show All
view of the Holdings and Portfolio Valuation reports in a future release
Insurance Reporting
Data Management Reporting
Performance
The performance toolkit calculates market value-based performance for cleared CDS, CDX, and IRSs using data supplied by the S2P process. For IRS, returns are calculated at the contract (price changes) and leg (accruals paid/received) levels. However, these returns can be misleading because swaps use notional values and typically start with a market value of zero. Exposure-based analyses, which can be implemented using Eagle Enrichment, calculate more meaningful returns. The documentation and .egl
files for cleared CDX and IRS enrichment are linked below as attachments. Additional details are available in Exposure Reporting Best Practices and the Manage Eagle Enrichment.
CDX
CDX positions require synthetic cash offsets to accurately reflect performance on the fund level. Depending on your version, minor panel changes may be required to allow synthetic cash to be created and linked for these instruments. Please contact Instrument Engineering through your Eagle representative for details.
Refer to Credit Default Index Swaps (CDX) Best Practices | Performance for the CDX rule as it works for both cleared and bilateral
Refer to Interest Rate Swaps (IRS) Best Practices | Performance for the IRS rule as it works for both cleared and bilateral
Automation
Cleared swap SMFs and trades can be loaded through the standard Message Center streams. The SMF must be loaded prior to the trade (trades do not spawn SMFs). Refer to https://eagledocs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/GENERICINTER for more information.
Sample messages for the standard interfaces are listed below.
Instrument | Transaction Type | Default Message Center Stream | Sample Files |
Cleared CDX | CCDX - SMF Setup | eagle_default_in_csv_smf | |
CCDX - Trade Open | eagle_default_in_csv_trades OR | ||
CCDX - Partial/Full Close | eagle_default_in_csv_trades OR | ||
Cleared IRS | CIRS - SMF Setup | eagle_default_in_csv_smf | |
CIRS - Trade Open | eagle_default_in_csv_trades OR | ||
CIRS - Partial/Full Close | eagle_default_in_csv_trades OR |